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New Music For Clarinet…Another Look
F. Gerard Errante clarinet
World-renowned clarinetist F. Gerard Errante’s latest Ravello release NEW MUSIC FOR CLARINET … ANOTHER LOOK is a retrospective compilation of avant-garde works previously recorded by Errante in the LP era. These innovative works of the late 20th century, mostly written for or dedicated to Errante, display his wide-ranging mastery and consummate musicality in an idiom that is challenging as well as engaging and compelling.
Errante’s eclectic selection of compositions provides an intriguing view of varied compositional styles and media that are as valid today as when they were written. William O. Smith’s Solo for Clarinet with Delay System and Asana feature technology that alters the acoustic sound of Errante’s clarinet in real-time. In Vladimir Ussachevsky’s Four Studies for Clarinet and EVI, Nyle Steiner melds the distinctive sound of his Electronic Valve Instrument with that of Errante’s clarinet. Adolphus Hailstork’s A Simple Caprice uses contemporary techniques of clarinet performance, such as multiphonics and harmonics, to depict the Harlem highjinks of the Langston Hughes character Jesse B. Semple (“Simple”). Dana Wilson ‘s introspective Piece for Clarinet “Alone” explores a multitude of clarinet colors, registers, and techniques. Errante’s own piece, the autobiographical Souvenirs de Nice, utilizes prepared piano as a percussive accompaniment to an improvisatory solo clarinet. Other techniques employed in this work include various vocal elements, playing two clarinets at once, and playing the clarinet into the open strings of the piano. The final piece on the album, The Dissolution of the Serial by Sydney Hodkinson, spoofs musical academia while romping through a variety of musical genres, tongue firmly in cheek.
Composer William Schuman once said, “Music can have no expanding past unless it has a constantly renewing present.” Errante has taken this dictum to heart and has dedicated his musical life to expanding and redefining the contemporary body of literature for the clarinet not only as a teacher and composer, but as one of the world’s premiere interpreters of new music.
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Artist Information
F. Gerard Errante
A long-time advocate of new music, F. Gerard Errante has enjoyed a performance and recording career spanning decades. A native New Yorker (Brooklyn), he began his music career like so many do – in a public school music program. His love for music and his aptitude for woodwinds drove his pursuit of music all the way to college. Most of his family had advanced careers in medicine; Gerry’s calling was music. He became a dedicated student and scholar of music first at Queens College (BA), then at Wisconsin, (MA). He did his doctoral work at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and completed his DMA there in 1970.